Jennifer Gates, City Councilwoman/man/person for District 13, is working like fury with all the real estate commotion going on in her ‘hood. Her constituents are very, very good at keeping her informed on just about everything happening in her district, she says.
So last week, when I called to ask her about this purported “halfway house or house for abused children or something for the good of society” allegedly to be built at 6043, 6048,6108 and 6118 Walnut Hill Lane where four homes have just been scraped, Jennifer was all over it. Said she had heard about it and was investigating. Monday her office sent me the following email:
Our office has just confirmed that the only thing that could be built on Single Family Residential zoned land is a Handicapped Group Dwelling unit. These dwellings do not require a special permit, as they are simply just a dwelling of up to 8 handicapped persons. No social services are provided at the center (counseling, rehabilitation…etc). Boarding homes, halfway houses, or any other social service center needs to either have a special use permit (SUP) or they will need to re-zone. We have flagged these properties with the City Attorney’s office and the Sustainable Development and Construction department, so we will be notified if an application is submitted.
What is a Handicapped Group Dwelling unit? We’re attaching the PDF from the City, but in a nutshell, it is a single family home for up to a total of 8 unrelated persons, who suffer a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. Examples of protected disabilities are HIV Infection and AIDS, mental retardation, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Diabetes, recovering alcoholic, recovering drug addict, old age (at times), learning disability, Epilepsy, mental illness, or physical impairment.
Up to two supervisory personnel may reside on the premises, but the total number including those personnel, may not exceed 8 persons. So two supervisors means you get only 6 handicapped residents.
Federal law — the FHAA, ADA, and Rehabilitation Act — prohibits cities from refusing to make reasonable accommodations in land use and zoning policies and procedures where such accommodations may be necessary to afford persons or groups of persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing.
There you have it. Whether Romeo and Gayla Guerra intend to build a Handicapped Group Dwelling Unit is unknown at this time. But if they want to, and they follow the rules, they can.
